{{for|other units with the same regimental number|87th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation)}} {{Short description|Former British Army regiment}} {{Use Irish English|date = March 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox military unit |unit_name= 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot |image=87th Foot colours.jpg |caption=Regimental colours |dates= 1793–1881 |country={{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}} (1793–1800)<br>{{flag|United Kingdom}} (1801–1881) |branch={{army|United Kingdom}} |type= Infantry |role= |size= One battalion (two battalions 1804–1817) |command_structure= |garrison=Renmore Barracks, Galway |equipment= <!-- Commanders --> |current_commander= |ceremonial_chief= |colonel_of_the_regiment= |notable_commanders= <!-- Insignia --> |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_2= <!-- Culture and history --> |nickname= Blayney's Bloodhounds<ref name="Burnham">{{cite book |last1=Burnham|first1=Robert|last2=McGuigan|first2=Ron|year=2010|title=The British Army against Napoleon|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire|publisher=Frontline Books|isbn=978-1-84832-562-3|page=128}}</ref><br>The Faughs<ref name="Burnham"/><br>The Aigle Catchers<ref name="Burnham"/><br>The Aiglers<ref name="Burnham"/> |patron= |motto= |colors= |march= |mascot= |battles= French Revolutionary Wars<br>Napoleonic Wars<br>First Anglo-Burmese War<br>Indian Rebellion |anniversaries= |decorations= |battle_honours= }} The '''87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot''' was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) in 1881.
==History== ===Formation=== thumb|upright|The regimental uniform in 1793
The regiment was raised by General Sir John Doyle as the '''87th (The Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot''', in response to the threat posed by the French Revolution, on 18 September 1793.<ref name=regt>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/087-793.htm |title=87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot |publisher=regiments.org |access-date=8 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513162153/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/087-793.htm |archive-date=13 May 2006}}</ref> The regiment was named after the George, Prince of Wales, who later became King George IV.<ref name=regt/> The regiment was sent to join the Duke of York's army in the Netherlands in summer 1794 as part of the unsuccessful defence of that country against the Republican French during the Flanders Campaign.<ref name=cannon5>Cannon, p. 5</ref> The regiment repulsed a unit of French troops during a skirmish at Aalst in Belgium in July 1794<ref name=cannon5/> but was subsequently captured by the French Army at Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands in 1795.<ref name=cannon6>Cannon, p. 6</ref>
The regiment was reformed and embarked for the West Indies in October 1796<ref name=cannon6/> and helped carry out an unsuccessful attack on Puerto Rico in April 1797.<ref name=cannon7>Cannon, p. 7</ref> It transferred to Saint Lucia later in the year,<ref name=cannon7/> to Martinique in December 1799<ref name=cannon8>Cannon, p. 8</ref> and to Dominica in April 1800.<ref name=cannon8/> It then moved on to Barbados in April 1801,<ref name=cannon8/> to Curaçao in August 1801<ref name=cannon8/> and to Antigua in April 1803.<ref name=cannon9>Cannon, p. 9</ref> After moving to Saint Kitts in June 1803, it embarked for home in July 1804.<ref name=cannon9/>
===Napoleonic Wars=== thumb|upright|1813 engraving of the regiment
A second battalion was raised in December 1804.<ref name=regt/> The 1st Battalion sailed for South America in September 1806<ref name=cannon10>Cannon, p. 10</ref> and took part in the disastrous expedition under Sir Home Popham: it saw action at the Battle of Montevideo in February 1807<ref name=cannon11>Cannon, p. 11</ref> and the unsuccessful attack on Buenos Aires in July 1807.<ref name=cannon12>Cannon, p. 12</ref> The regiment's light company were captured by Spanish troops during the attack although they were subsequently released.<ref name=cannon12/>
The 1st Battalion sailed on to the Cape of Good Hope in August 1807<ref name=cannon15>Cannon, p. 15</ref> and then took part in the Invasion of Isle de France in December 1810.<ref name=cannon16>Cannon, p. 16</ref> The regiment became the '''87th (The Prince of Wales's Own Irish) Regiment of Foot''' in 1811.<ref name=regt/> The 1st Battalion embarked for India in June 1815<ref name=cannon16/> and saw action in the Nepal Hills in January 1816 during the Anglo-Nepalese War.<ref name=cannon17>Cannon, p. 17</ref> It amalgamated with the 2nd Battalion in February 1817.<ref name=regt/>
Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion landed in Lisbon for service in the Peninsular War in March 1809.<ref name=cannon44>Cannon, p. 44</ref> It took part in the Battle of Talavera in July 1809<ref name=cannon47>Cannon, p. 47</ref> and the Battle of Barrosa in March 1811.<ref name=cannon48>Cannon, p. 48</ref> At Barrosa, Ensign Edward Keogh and Sergeant Patrick Masterson captured the French Imperial Eagle of the 8th Regiment de Ligne. Keogh only managed to get a hand on the shaft when he was shot, bayoneted and killed. Masterson took over and, after killing several men, wrenched the Eagle from the dying hands of its bearer, Lieutenant Gazan.<ref>Fraser, p. 137, 138</ref> It was at the Battle of Barrosa that the regiment's motto 'Faugh A Ballagh' (‘Clear the Way’) was born.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=British Army|title= The Royal Irish Regiment – Through the years 1811|url=https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/about-the-army/corps-regiments-and-units/infantry/royal-irish-regiment/|access-date=7 May 2025}}</ref>
The battalion also took part in the Siege of Tarifa in December 1812<ref name=cannon58>Cannon, p. 58</ref> and the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813.<ref name=cannon60>Cannon, p. 60</ref> At Vitoria, it was bugler Paddy Shannon of the 2nd Battalion who "picked up" Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's baton at the end of the battle.<ref>Fraser, p. 148</ref> The battalion then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813,<ref name=cannon63>Cannon, p. 63</ref> the Battle of the Nive in December 1813 and the Battle of Orthez in February 1814<ref name=cannon65>Cannon, p. 65</ref> as well as the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814.<ref name=cannon66>Cannon, p. 66</ref>
===The Victorian era=== thumb|upright|The regimental uniform in 1853
The regiment remained in India and was deployed to Burma in October 1825 for service in the First Anglo-Burmese War:<ref name=cannon24>Cannon, p. 24</ref> it formed part of an army which advanced up the River Irrawaddy to the Kingdom of Ava.<ref name=cannon24/> It returned to India arriving in Calcutta in November 1826<ref name=cannon27>Cannon, p. 27</ref> and embarked for England in February 1827.<ref name=cannon28>Cannon, p. 28</ref> It became the '''87th Regiment of Foot (or Prince of Wales's Own Irish Fusiliers)''' in July 1827 and the '''87th (or Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot''' in November 1827.<ref name=regt/>
The regiment embarked for Mauritius in February 1831<ref name=cannon38>Cannon, p. 38</ref> and remained there until it returned to England in June 1843.<ref name=cannon39>Cannon, p. 39</ref> It went back to India in April 1849<ref name=cannon40>Cannon, p. 40</ref> and saw action on the North West Frontier during the Indian Rebellion.<ref name=locations>{{cite web|url=http://regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-inf/087-1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616000033/http://regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-inf/087-1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 June 2006|title=87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot: Locations|publisher=Regiments.org|access-date=5 March 2017}}</ref> It embarked at Calcutta for Hong Kong in 1860 but returned home in 1861.<ref name=locations/> It was posted to Gibraltar in 1866 and to Malta in 1868, before sailing for Nova Scotia in 1872, transferring to the Bermuda Garrison in 1876 and embarking for home in 1877.<ref name=locations/>
As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 87th was linked with the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) and assigned to district no. 68 at Renmore Barracks in Galway.<ref name=training>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210172841/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 February 2006|title=Training Depots|publisher=Regiments.org|access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers).<ref name=regt/>
==Battle honours== Battle honours won by the regiment were:<ref name=regt/> * ''Napoleonic Wars'': Monte Video * ''Peninsular War'': Talavera, Barrosa, Tarifa, Vittoria, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula * ''First Anglo-Burmese War'': Ava
==Colonels of the Regiment== Colonels of the Regiment were:<ref name= regt/>
===87th (The Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot===
*1796–1834: Gen. Sir John Doyle, Bt, GCB, KC
===87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot – (1827)===
*1834–1841: Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Reynell, Bt, KCB *1841–1855: F.M. Sir Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, KT, GCB, GCSI *1855–1863: Gen. Sir James Simpson, GCB *1863–1864: F.M. Lord William Paulet, GCB *1864–1870: Gen. Thomas Henry Johnston *1870–1881: Gen. Sir Charles Hastings Doyle, KCMG
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Sources== *{{cite book |last=Cannon|first=Richard|url=https://archive.org/details/recordofeightyse00canniala|title= Historical record of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853|publisher=Parker, Furnivall and Parker|year=1853}} *{{cite book |last=Fraser |first=Edward |year=1913 |title=The Soldiers who Wellington Led |location=London |publisher=Methuen |pages=129–[https://archive.org/stream/soldierswhomwell00frasuoft#page/148/mode/1up 148]}}
{{Royal Irish Regiment}} {{Regiments of Foot}} Category:Royal Irish Fusiliers Category:Irish regiments of the British Army Category:1881 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Category:British military units and formations of the Napoleonic Wars Category:Defunct Irish regiments of the British Army Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Category:Military units and formations established in 1793 Category:Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Peninsular War